Chris Gould
Takamiyama's 60s / 70s successes notwithstanding Konishiki was sumo's
first full-on mover and shaker from lands afar leaving Chris G to take
an in-depth look at the ripples the big guy left behind when exiting
the sumo pool.

jun-yusho (runner-up spot) in the final tournament
staged at the Kuramae Kokugikan. En route to his 12 wins, he defeated
the two competing yokozuna, Chiyonofuji and Takanosato, with surprising
ease.

After upsetting a third yokozuna, Kitanoumi, in his first bout at the
new Ryogoku Kokukigan, Konishiki’s card became firmly marked. Opponents
cooked up several strategies to thwart his blistering thrusting
attacks, a practice which the Hawaiian admits forced him to improve his
yotzu-zumo in later years. Then, in May 1986, disaster struck. On the
eighth day of the Natsu basho, Konishiki’s knee was all-but-shattered
in a gruelling match against the feisty ozeki Kitao Koji. Although
Konishiki staged a quite remarkable recovery, his weakened knee
deprived him of an invaluable support to his huge weight, and he was
never quite the same sumotori again.

After regularly posting double-figure scores for a year, Konishiki
surpassed his mentor Takamiyama to become sumo’s first non-Japanese
ozeki in May 1987. Aged just 23, Konishiki looked set to completely
rewrite sumo history, with his then stablemaster fully confident that
Konishiki would become the first yokozuna from Takasago-beya since the
oyakata himself. For a while, Konishiki seemed hell-bent on fulfilling
his coach’s prediction but in 1988 his knee became evermore
troublesome. His career was even being written off by September 1989
when he posted a measly five

Chris Gould marks the 15th anniversary of Konishiki’s final yusho
triumph with a review of the debate which shaped – and arguably defined
– contemporary sumo.

On March 22nd 1992, Konishiki Yasokichi and Kirishima Kazuhiro squared
off for the makunouchi division championship. Both were ranked at
ozeki; both entered the match with 12 wins, 2 losses; but that was
where the similarities ended. Kirishima, at just 115 kilograms, was
light for a sumotori but his body was beautifully well-muscled and
equipped with astonishing strength. Konishiki, on the other hand,
entered the Guinness Book of Records as the heaviest sumotori ever, his
frame weighing over twice as much as Kirishima’s. The match would
certainly play host to a contrast of styles.

The Yokozuna Deliberation Committee (YDC) doubtless rued the fact that,
were Kirishima a little younger, he would have made a fine yokozuna,
and an almightily photogenic one at that. But on this historic Sunday
afternoon in Osaka, it was the gargantuan Konishiki who was within
touching distance of sumo’s highest rank. Victory over his handsome
arch-rival would deliver him his second Emperor’s Cup in four months
and cement his status as the first non-Japanese ever to be considered
for yokozuna promotion. The pressure was unbearable.

To the shrieks of a frenzied

audience and the gruff tones of the 27th
Kimura Shonosuke, Konishiki aimed his super-sized palms at Kirishima
and pushed with all his might. Kirishima was a crafty customer who had
side-stepped Konishiki on many an occasion, but even his agility was
found wanting in the face of such a thunderous onslaught. As Kirishima
faltered, Konishiki grabbed his prized mawashi, gritted his teeth,
heaved, shoved, toiled and eventually forced his muscular opponent over
the tawara.

Size had won the day, but not everybody in the arena was impressed.
Fervent shouts of ‘banzai’ were counter-punched by a smattering of
boos. In the context of this divided crowd, Konishiki’s finest hour
gave rise to one of the most intriguing debates in sumo history, with
far-reaching consequences for everyone concerned.

The background
Konishiki was born Salevaa Atisanoe in Oahu, Hawaii, on December 30th
1963. He joined Takasago-beya in the summer of 1982, having been
sweet-talked by a friend of Hawaii’s first sumo superstar, Takamiyama,
and then by Takamiyama himself.

The bulky teenager first graced the banzuke in September 1982 and rose
to makunouchi level in just 11 basho. Exactly two years after his
debut, he caused an earthquake in the sumo world by capturing the makunouchi